


Mirage

by elena82



Category: Cinderella (2015)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-04-29 11:06:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14471331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elena82/pseuds/elena82
Summary: What could go wrong with marrying some you've known for 1 day!  The Prince is used to having everything his way.  The more I thought about it, the more I think a situation like this would happen.  I know Cinderella is a fairy tale, but people shouldn't get married after knowing each other all of 4 hours!





	1. Revelation

Cinderella slowly walked back the familiar path to the chateau. It was dusk, almost night, but it looked the same as when she left six months ago but so much had changed in those few months…

She married the Prince and forgave her stepmother for being so cruel. Her stepsisters had positions on the high court and were also married. Her stepmother lived at the chateau alone now, although Cinderella insisted on seeing her at least once a week. Her stepmother might have been wicked, but she was genuinely trying to make amends. The past was past and they were both trying to get over it. Cinderella felt sorry for her stepmother-life had not been kind to her. And she no other family, so she wanted them in her life.

She rang the doorbell, feeling silly for ringing the bell to her own home. Lady Tremaine answered.

“Oh, hello,” she greeted. “Come in.”

Ella stepped to the hallway and lowered her hood. She turned around and looked at her stepmother.

“How have you-Oh my God!” Her stepmother threw her hands to her face in horror.

Ella’s beautiful face was cut and bloody. One eye was nearly swollen shut. Blood trickled from a cut on her lip. Bluish purple fingerprints formed a circle around her neck.

“What the _hell_ happened to you?” her stepmother demanded, her blue eyes sweeping her stepdaughter up and down in horrified anger. She knew what happened before Ella even said anything. She may have smacked her once in a while and been cruel to her emotionally but she had never done anything like this. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine hurting her stepdaughter like this.

‘He hurts me,” Ella whispered. Her stepmother held her arms out to her and Ella wobbled into them. She had difficulty walking. Lady Tremaine rubbed her back and Ella winced and whimpered.

“Come on,” Lady Tremaine said and led Cinderella into the sitting room. Blood trickled down her legs.

She gently sat them down on the couch. Cinderella gasped back sobs but Lady Tremaine was seething. The fact the Ella could be so hurt made her want to kill the Prince herself.

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked gently. Ella only sobbed Lady Tremaine wrapped her arms around her and rocked her. “Shhhh. You’re safe now, sweetheart.”

Ella finally calmed down. “He hurts me, Stepmother. The Prince isn’t who everyone thinks he is. I found out I was pregnant shortly after the wedding and he was overjoyed. But I miscarried.”

Lady Tremaine squeezed her. She had had a miscarriage herself. She knew how traumatic it was.

Cinderella wiped her wet eyes. “He changed after that. At first it was being pushed into walls or stepped on when I dared disagree with him. Then it got to be a slap now and then. He always apologized and said it was the stress of running the kingdom that made him do it. I got pregnant again about two months ago but miscarried last week. He said it was my fault, that he couldn’t be with me if I couldn’t give him an heir. I said we needed some time apart, that I wanted to come see you. That’s when…then he….he…”

She couldn’t finish as she was sobbing too hard. Lady Tremaine pulled her to her and rocked her. She was livid that Ella had been so hurt. And that the Prince was going to get away with it because of his position.

Ella finally calmed down and looked at her stepmother through puffy eyes. “Can I stay here for a few days, Stepmother?”

“Of course!” her stepmother replied. “But honey, I need to check you. Can you walk to my bedroom?”

Ella could barely stand, let alone walk. With her stepmother holding her up, she slowly hobbled up the stairs to her room. She could barely move as each step was agony that threatened to tear her in two.

“Lie down,” Stepmother ordered. “Is it okay if I take your clothes off?”

Cinderella nodded. Her stepmother unbuttoned her dress and pulled it off. Then she got a blanket from the closet and covered Cinderella from the waist down. Cinderella was wearing only her chemise and underwear.

“These have to come off too,” Stepmother said gently. She tugged on the underwear. Cinderella nodded reluctantly. Tears streamed down her face.

In only her pearly white chemise, the abuse Cinderella suffered was more apparent than ever. Brownish bruises covered her arms and shoulders. Her stepmother gasped and covered her mouth in horror again when she looked under the blanket.

Thick crusts of blood covered her legs. It was obvious Cinderella had been violated more than once and in more than one place. Black and blue bruises went all the way up her thighs.

_No wonder she could barely move_ Lady Tremaine thought as she got a basin of water and a washcloth. She gently began to wash away the blood. The higher she went the tenser Cinderella got. She was embarrassed and ashamed she had let this happen to her.

At last her stepmother washed away all the blood and fluids. She lay down next to her stepdaughter. Ella rested her head on her stepmother’s shoulder, worn out and trembling.

They lay like that quietly for a while, Ella too exhausted to speak and Lady Tremaine too furious. Ella had never seen her stepmother so angry.

“I’m sorry, Stepmother,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you and let this happen to me.”

Angry blue eyes looked down at her. “Don’t you _dare_ say that, Ella! This is not your fault. Not one bit.”

Ella clung to her stepmother, trembling. Her stepmother held her gently. She was so bruised she was afraid she’d hurt her. Eventually, Ella fell asleep but Stepmother didn’t. She was far too angry. Finally, she slipped out of bed and made her way downstairs.


	2. Ch 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get sorted out
> 
> Last chapter for now. Enjoy my other stories on here!

Lady Tremaine wrote a long letter to her the Prince. My son-in-law she thought with a smirk as she sealed the envelope. The letter was simple. She simply informed him he was going to give Cinderella a divorce and half of his assets. Ella would be set for life. Or else his kingdom would hear and see what he had done to her. She may have cleaned her up but the bruises wouldn’t fade for weeks.

“Stepmother?” a voice called weakly. “Where are you?”

Cinderella came tottering down the stairs. She was unsteady on her feet and was using an umbrella as a cane. 

“I’m in the sitting room,” her stepmother replied. “Stay there. I’m coming.

She helped Cinderella back up to her room and into bed. “Stay here. I don’t want you walking around yet.”

Cinderella looked at her in surprise. “What about meals? I have to go the kitchen to cook.”

Her stepmother waved a hand dismissively. “No. I will bring your meals up for a few days.”

Cinderella’s dark eyes widened even more. “You-you are going bring me meals in here?”

Lady Tremaine smirked at her stepdaughter’s astonishment. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. I know how to cook.”

Ella shook her head and blinked back tears. “It’s not that. It’s that you are taking care of me.”

Her stepmother cradled her face and made her look into her eyes. One of Cinderella’s eyes was still nearly swollen shut. Tears streamed down her face. To see her stepdaughter so broken made Lady Tremaine want to strangle the Prince with her bare hands.

“I am going to take care of you, Ella. The way I should have from the beginning.”

Ella began to really cry, great racking sobs. She covered her eyes and wept. Her stepmother sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around her devastated stepdaughter.

“Shhh,” her stepmother said as she rocked her. “Shhhhh.”

Ella finally calmed down. “I was scared to come back here, you know. I didn’t know how you would react to seeing me, especially like this.”

Lady Tremaine squeezed Ella gently. “Don’t ever be afraid to come here. I want to start fresh with you and treat you how you deserve.”

 

True to her word, Lady Tremaine took care of Cinderella for weeks. She held her when she woke up screaming. She cooked and they ate together. They went for walks together. Cinderella could not be away from her stepmother for long. She actually felt safe with her now. An ironic twist of faith.

Finally, the day came when Lady Tremaine’s demands were meant. The money was delivered and a divorce was granted. Stepmother was thrilled but Cinderella didn’t know how to take it. She was still pretty shattered.

“What happens now?” she asked her stepmother. “Where do we go from here?”

“Come lie down,” her stepmother told her. She was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. She put a pillow on her lap and made Ella lie down. Ella blushed slightly.   
Before, she never would have dared do such a thing, out of fear her stepmother would slit her throat.

But those days were over. She lay down on the couch, her head on her Stepmother’s lap. Her stepmother brushed her fingers through her hair gently.

“The nightmare is over now, Ella,” she said softly. “You are set for life.”

Cinderella brushed tears out of her eyes. She was too exhausted to speak.

She drifted off to sleep in front of the fire, just as she had many times before. But this time, her head was on her stepmother’s lap. Lady Tremaine covered her with a blanket and went to sleep on the couch too. She had to be near Ella at night. She woke up screaming nearly every night. 

 

Around midnight, Ella began to toss and turn. ‘No! Please, stop! I’ll give you an heir-”

“Ella!” her stepmother said sharply. She shook her awake.

Ella woke up, confused for a few seconds. Then she remembered where she was. Her stepmother didn’t hate her. The prince was a monster. She was safe.

Ella sat up, gasping. “I’m sorry, Stepmother. I just-”

“Don’t you dare apologize for a nightmare!” her stepmother snapped. 

Ella looked at her, surprised. Stepmother sounded like her old self.

Bright blue eyes looked into her dark ones. For several seconds, neither of them spoke. 

“Come on,” her stepmother said as she stood up. “Let’s go to bed. The couch is most uncomfortable.”

They went upstairs and got into Stepmother’s luxurious bed.

Cinderella hesitatingly held on to Lady Tremaine’s arm. “Thank you, Stepmother.”

“For what?”

“For...for everything.” 

There was much more Ella wanted to say. She wanted to tell her stepmother how she never really loved the prince, she just wanted to escape. Who could fall in love with someone you’ve known for four hours? The whole thing was preposterous. 

But more than that, Cinderella wanted to tell her stepmother how much she loved her. That she had always loved her. You can’t live in the same house as someone for ten years and not love them at least somewhat.

“I love you,” Cinderella whispered.

“And I love you,’ Lady Tremaine replied.

Cinderella tightened her grip around her stepmother’s arm and smiled.


End file.
